Champion City's protector, Mr. Amazing (Kinnear) needs more endorsement revenue. So he arranges the release of supervillian Cassanova Frankenstein (Rush), only to get captured by him. This leaves defending the city up to a group of second rate, low rent superheroes. Like Mr. Furious (Stiller), who's only power is to be angry all the time. And The Shoveler (Macy), who hits people over the head with a shovel.
Mystery Men has a great premise. The idea of looking at the second-rate super heroes is a good one (although it's starting to be a cliche in comic books now). The talent is good - Geoffrey Rush, Hank Azaria, Janeane Garofalo - but somehow it just doesn't translate into a good film. Ultimately the film feels a little directionless, and probably in need of a severe edit. There are enough moments of genius in the film to make it worth watching, but probably just not quite enough.

A crew of actors working on a not-exactly A science fiction, or more accurately sci-fi, television production find themselves, surprise, surprise, out of work when their show is cancelled. However, twenty years on, it appears there are a group of reality-challenged fans who, believing the actors to actually be the characters whom they are portraying within the show, kind of offer to extend the show, by whisking our ex-heroes, who are still making a living by wandering around science fiction conventions in uniform, makeup and character, onto the front line of a real battle deep in space against a genuinely deadly adversary. Where they aren't quite as useful as was expected. But, can't you just see a group of aliens abducting the Enterprise crew and expecting the historically real characters to assist them? Ooooh, they could take Shatner. Ooooh. I'm tingling already.
But seriously, this is a delightful film. The director and writers are obviously familiar with SF fandom, and its never-forget-an-extra attitudes and have developed this well in line with that insanity (a good insanity, of course), their tongues firmly in cheek.
Performances are amusing, with Tim Allen playing Jason Nesmith/Commander Peter Quincy Taggart not exactly to type, and Sigourney Weaver playing the token female Gwen DeMarco/Lt. Tawny Madison as substantially more, aaah, blonde than Ripley ever was.